If you think life today is tough, pull your head in.
Throughout our recorded history, up until less than just a century ago, even the very people that controlled our world, the most wealthy, prominent, and influential didn’t have air conditioning, they did not have antibiotics, for crying out loud they did not even have Netflix.
Our modern world provides us with comforts that make everyday people of now far richer than any royalty of the past.
The Hidden Royalty of Modern Life
A hundred years ago, luxury meant something entirely different. Kings, queens, and industrial tycoons, they may have lived in palatial accommodation, but they still battled heat, disease, and discomfort. And now, in most of our first and second world countries, very few live in fear of these concepts.
You and I? We actually live better than many monarchs of 1925. We have clean water on tap, shit gets piped straight out of our homes, entertainment can be instantly provided on a device not much bigger than a deck of cards.
We have global communication, and medical miracles. I casually chat with family and friends on the other side of the planet, instantly! Both my wife and I, over the last bunch of years, have had serious accidents that, until not too long ago, would have been 100% fatal, but we’re still here.
Kings couldn’t buy what we enjoy on a daily basis. Yet most of us don’t feel royal at all, rarely do we even acknowledge our good fortune of being born into this day and age.
Let’s take a look at just how extraordinary our “ordinary” lives really are.
1.
We Command the Seasons: Climate Control for All
At the start of the 1900’s, nobody could escape summer heat or winter chills. Yes there were fireplaces and open windows, and with a bit of coin you have servants to tend these things, but you could not have air conditioning. Today, adjust the thermostat and nearly every home can live in a perfect temperature.
No more shivering in the cold or sweating through the night. You press a button, and the weather is modified to your desire.
2.
Feasts on Demand: A Global Kitchen at Your Fingertips
Royal chefs once struggled to create feasts with exotic foods. Many fruits were considered treasures; strawberries in winter were unthinkable, bananas in North America? Nope! Our local markets now have tropical fruits, international spices, and ready-made meals from every cuisine.
These days, if you want, in most cities you can have snags (sausages) and bumnuts (eggs) for breakfast, sushi for lunch, French for dinner, and a Thai dessert—and have it all delivered to your door. Your local grocery store is more abundant and lavish than a royal banquet pantry ever was.
3.
Cleanliness Fit for a King: Hygiene and Plumbing
A century ago, indoor plumbing was a luxury. Many homes used outhouses and hot water for a shower was rare. Now, hot and cold water is at our fingertips. Bathrooms reek of lavender and roses, flushing toilets remove our nasty byproducts, and scented soaps and shampoos allow us to believe we don’t really stink.
Add electric toothbrushes, deodorant, and clean towels, and even our cheapest apartments rival the royal bathhouses of recent history.
4.
Miracle Medicine: Health Beyond Imagination
In the early 1900’s, antibiotics as we now know them did not exist. Common infections from a cut could kill you, childbirth was a dangerous activity, and many diseases had no cure.
Kings may have had private doctors, but not modern science.
Today, vaccines, antibiotics, anesthesia, and advanced surgery are standard. We live longer, healthier, and with far less pain than anyone a century ago could imagine.
5.
Transportation Triumphs: Royal Carriages for the Masses
Again, in the early 1900’s, our now vanguard, luxury vehicle was a noisy, unreliable machine made by Rolls Royce. Today’s cheapest cars now have climate control, airbags, GPS, and a very smooth ride.
And how about flying? What was once reserved for the ultra-rich, is now enjoyed by millions who cross oceans yearly, watching movies and sipping coffee midair.
6.
Mastering Light
Before widespread electricity, people lived by the sun, using candles, and oil lamps to light up a room.
Now, entire cities, homes, and screens light up at the touch of a switch. Nighttime darkness no longer rules our lives, and I honestly think we suffer because of it.
7.
The Internet: A Library Greater Than Kings Ever Owned
Once upon a time, only the very wealthy could amass knowledge through creating libraries full of books. We now collect browser tabs. In our pockets, we now hold the entire sum of recorded human knowledge—encyclopedias, tutorials, languages, art, and news.
Information once held only by scholars, artisans, and masters of crafts can now be found in seconds. “How do I make a mitre joint? Roast a chicken? Tune my Maserati?”
We are all librarians now, ruling over information empires and unfortunately, we don’t actually need to retain any knowledge.
It’s all there at the touch of a button.
8.
Endless Entertainment: Streaming for the Sovereign
Only the wealthy elite had live musicians and private theaters. Today, you can stream an orchestra through an astoundingly good sound system, watch a blockbuster film, or a global sporting event in seconds, all in the comfort of your own home.
Most of us now hold in our hands, more art, music, storytelling and information, than the greatest of palace vaults.
9.
Instant Communication: The Power to Speak Across the Globe
It wasn’t long ago that a written note took days or weeks to arrive on a door step. Now, we text, video chat, and translate foreign languages around the globe in an instant.
Emperors, kings, and military leaders didn’t have the reach we now have as a mere civilian. Every one of us now has a voice across the world.
We may choose to watch funny cat videos and porn instead, but we could do great things if we wanted to.
10.
Democratized Luxury: The New Definition of Wealth
Once, luxury meant exclusivity only available to the more wealthy of the world. Now, comfort is quite common. Air conditioning, refrigeration, smartphones, and reliable cars are accessible to billions.
I don’t think true wealth is now about possessions—it’s about awareness. Not many in this day and age are unaware of the wars and struggles around various parts of the world. These things may not affect us directly, but having that knowledge can help us appreciate just how good our life truly is.
11.
Gratitude Lost: Why We Forget We’re Royalty
Ironically, it seems that the more we have, the less we notice. We can now complain about Wi-Fi speeds and lukewarm coffee, forgetting that just a century ago, one didn’t exist, and the other was completely our own fault.
I think that now true royalty comes not from owning more—but from appreciating that which we have. We may not be royal by decree, but we certainly live within the benefits of a royal existence.
12.
A Modern Monarch’s Day
Our average day would be inconceivable to a 1925 king:
You wake in climate-controlled comfort.
Brew coffee from beans grown oceans away.
Softly commute in a climate-sealed carriage, with music.
Eat meals from global cuisines.
Communicate worldwide instantly.
Watch movies, learn skills, or summon food by tapping glass.
We live a life of abundance and control that royalty could only have ever dreamed of.
13.
The Future Will Look Back on Us
Imagine another hundred years from now, people may very well pity us for our traffic (we used roads and cars that stay on the ground), our “primitive” technology (no idea what that’ll be, but it’s bound to be different) and may wonder, “How did they cope with such hardship in the olden days?”
Progress never stops, but real wealth is timeless: appreciation, curiosity, and gratitude.
14.
Conclusion: King of the Everyday
We live in an age of comfort. Clean water, hot showers, medicine, light, endless entertainment, all of which are gifts of progress and science.
To live the way we do today is to live royally. The only thing really missing, I think, is awareness.
So the next time you adjust the thermostat, or stream a film in your house, or enjoy a coffee or cold beer without concern of bloodshed and mayhem, pause and smile.
You’re not just ‘living’—you’re living better than most of histories royalty.
Journey Island Style 